Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums by donating using the link above or becoming a Supporting Member.

Konosuke HD is an awesome knife. Semi-stainless carbons are just a wonderful hybrid of two worlds. Unless you are unlucky and get a faulty one, what's there not to like? It cuts like a demon.

Let's be clear, I wasn't criticizing Konosuke. They appear to be great knives....I came close to pulling the trigger several times. I just find it amusing that the flavor of the month changes so often, whatever the reason.

Having used both, I found that the HD2 was easier to sharpen and held that edge longer than the HD. I have since sold off both of those knives however. The original HD steel is by no means difficult to sharpen, I just found the HD2 something closer to White#2 in the time and effort it took to sharpen and closer to Super Blue in the retention catagory. YMMV.

"Meat, vegetables, a fish, an all-around kitchen knife including the bread. It is unsuitable for the thing which is too hard because a blade is thin." -Engrish

Also, a knife that's both easier to sharpen and better edge retention? I'm just a newbie around here, but isn't that contradictory?

A knife can have good steel & edge retention + be easy to sharpen.Often quality steel raises a burr easy as compared to cheap stainless that has lousy edge reten. & is hard to sharpen.On the other end some stainless super hard steels are hard to sharpen but have good retention.To me the best combo knives are good edge -easy sharpen.

Jon at JKI gets alot of Luv here & for good reason.He has some Gesshin stainless thin blades that would make great work knives.The Kono HD is a good blade,it is just that they have gone way up in price.The Sakai Yusuke stainless lazors are good blades too.

The Richmond blade seems thin & good shape,however they need major thinning to cut well.The factory just grinds a 50/50 wedge on the edge.